Sonya Weisburd often hears from soon-to-be teenagers who don’t know where to begin for their b’nai mitzvah service project.
“I had a lot of folks approach me who had children of bar or bat mitzvah age who had to create a social action project … and just had absolutely no idea how to start, where to go,” said Weisburd, the director for social impact at the Edlavitch Jewish Community Center in Washington, D.C. “Their synagogue said, ‘You need to do this,’ but didn’t necessarily give them the tools or resources.”
Jennifer Zwilling, the CEO of EDCJCC, said her children, who were b’nai mitzvah over the past four years, did not receive a lot of direction for their service projects.
This lack of guidance led Weisburd and other members of the EDCJCC Center for Social Responsibility to create the Youth Action Institute, which includes the Tzedek B’Mitzvah Fellowship, two monthly volunteer opportunities, an environmental sustainability club and the Youth Advisory Committee.
Aiming to fulfill a need in the community and encourage local teens to be more civically engaged, the Youth Action Institute provides volunteer and leadership opportunities for teens to help solve issues including climate change, food insecurity and homelessness, according to its website.
Teens earn service-learning hours for each volunteer project and have the chance to meet and connect with peers, Zwilling said. Weisburd said she hopes the initiative reaches 100 teens this fall and winter.
The Center for Social Responsibility staff held a block party to officially launch the Youth Action Institute at EDCJCC on Sept. 8. Youth and teens ages 11-18 gathered for outdoor video games and a candy buffet while learning more about the new initiative.
The Tzedek B’Mitzvah Fellowship, for youth ages 11-13 who have an upcoming bar or bat mitzvah, aims to facilitate the process of organizing a b’mitzvah — what Weisburd calls “such a big undertaking” — in a fun, stress-free way, according to the EDCJCC’s website. The fellowship connects youth to hands-on volunteering around the D.C. area.
“It’s the question of ‘How do we help people tap into their passion[s]?’” Zwilling said of the Tzedek B’Mitzvah Fellowship. “It’s for students to tap into understanding what their interests are and what they care about and finding the right project.”
She added that the five-month fellowship will provide a wide range of options for teens so they can explore possible interests.
Weisburd said this fellowship emphasizes that social service is a long-term effort. She hopes teens will learn about systemic social justice issues and help address that need in the community rather than doing a one-time charitable act.
“Oftentimes, teens will do a monetary collection, which is great — nonprofits need funding, donations — or they would do a drive for shoes or underwear. And those are wonderful. Those are needed,” Weisburd said. “But it doesn’t get the teen to understand that there are these big issues and they’re systemic.”
She said the Center for Social Responsibility encourages community members to make sandwiches for people in need, for example, “but we need to talk about why there’s hunger in the richest country in the world.”
“Why is there hunger in D.C., the capital of the United States? Why have 30% of children in D.C. experienced food insecurity at some point?” Weisburd said.
The Youth Action Institute will connect teens with local nonprofit organizations, including the DC Central Kitchen, the Lutheran Social Services’ Refugee and Immigrant Services program and the Ronald McDonald House Charities, according to Weisburd. The goal is for teens to actively consider why there is a need for a shoe drive and understand more about housing needs and poverty.
The Institute will also house a club for climate action and environmental sustainability. The donor and philanthropist who helped fund the Youth Action Initiative, Samuel Rose, is “really passionate” about environmental sustainability and reversing the effects of climate change, Weisburd said.
“He really is invested in the next generation,” Zwilling said. “He’s done a lot of philanthropic work. He’s invested in helping the next generation make a positive impact on the world and in his passion for the environment. … He felt a really strong obligation to make an impact.”
The Youth Action Institute is the brainchild of Weisburd, who wanted to create a way to reach local teens and encourage “meaningful service learning” through the JCC, rather than a box to check for required service learning hours.
Zwilling said she looks forward to the future of the initiative.
“I’m excited for teens to see the JCC as a place where they can be and [know] that we’re here for them,” Zwilling said. “I’m excited for them to connect with all the community partners that are part of our Social Responsibility program and create some buzz in the community.”
“I’m really proud and excited for [the Youth Action Institute], that we’ll be a resource and a home for teens across the community,” Zwilling said.
